Green Vehicles

[Mark Parsons]

Rob,

I have a very active interest in greening our personal and commercial transportation options.

Electric vehicles, alternate fuels, propulsion technologies, etc.

Could you add a section for discussion on this topic?

After all, Green Power needs to be used in more than just our homes. As announced by the Conservative government today - transportation is our country's biggest greenhouse gas polluter.:eek:

Thanks,
Mark

[Rob Beckers]

Sure!
Any suggestions for one or more forums? Just a "Sustainable Transportation" forum, or more? (That could mean anything from a bicycle to an electric car or biodiesel Benz).


-Rob-

[Paul Bailey]

Maybe someone out there has the numbers.BUT I'm sure most of the governments numbers are very skewed. I've read differant that antiquated home heating systems and of course coal fired generation of electricity is the single biggest producer of CO2 and sulfer dioxide by far over any and all the vehicles out there.(since our country is dominated by more heating than cooling btu's) Everything out there that is the worst,seems somehow to be exempt. Instead lets put more on the public which costs us $$$$$.,and the culprits walk away as usuall. I will give some big business credit for doing there part but weve got a long way to go.:) Paul.

[Paul Bailey]

sorry Rob I think I put this in the wrong forum.

[Rob Beckers]

Paul, no problem. Mark wanted to talk about starting a new forum rather than the subject of that forum itself. B.t.w. from what I remember the majority of CO2 production was "industry" (whatever falls in that category), not consumers.

-Rob-

[Mark Parsons]

Nice rant Paul. :D

My suggestions Rob:

Heading - Sustainable Transportation
Forum sections:
- ICE (Internal Combustion Engine) and Fuels; any possibilities to improve well (or corn cob) to wheel efficiency?
- Electric; Direct electric drive and storage systems, renewable sources and charging constraints?
- Alternate Propulsion Systems; Fuel cells, turbines, jet drive, magnetic levitation??
- Modes; Ground - personal and commercial including mass transit, Flight - airlines and soon to be available sub-orbital, Sea - surface and subsurface.


I'm not sure my forum suggestions are well enough organized. I'm also sure there are other areas that I will think of after posting this.:rolleyes: It is a large area of issues that our society needs to address to make our current travel and importing lifestyle sustainable.

Thanks,
Mark

[Chuck Morrison]

I'm going to second Mark's suggestion. Transportation is the 800 lb gorilla in the room. Most of us drive every day and everyone deals with the resulting pollution, even if we live away from the big cities. There are two reasons for looking at alternative transportation vehicles. Reducing pollution and getting off of the oil merry go round. Saving money is NOT the reason. If it is, it is a failing strategy. Oil is still the cheap fuel.

Gas prices have dropped 30% from last summer. As a result there are actually new Hybrid cars on dealer lots and they aren't moving very fast. The prices of used ones are dropping too. They still are not cheap, but they are the cleanest and most fuel efficient cars on the road. When plug-in hybrids become a reasonably priced reality, that will change.

I've checked on some "greener" alternatives and found that for me, having a 30 mile commute and not being wealthy, I have no options beyond a hybrid. Most all commuting type electric vehicles have a very short range(~30 miles) and almost all of them have low top speeds. I'm sure we'd all love to have a Tesla, but the cost is prohibitive.

Just some thoughts.

Chuck

Nice rant Paul. :D

My suggestions Rob:

Heading - Sustainable Transportation
Forum sections:
- ICE (Internal Combustion Engine) and Fuels; any possibilities to improve well (or corn cob) to wheel efficiency?
- Electric; Direct electric drive and storage systems, renewable sources and charging constraints?
- Alternate Propulsion Systems; Fuel cells, turbines, jet drive, magnetic levitation??
- Modes; Ground - personal and commercial including mass transit, Flight - airlines and soon to be available sub-orbital, Sea - surface and subsurface.


I'm not sure my forum suggestions are well enough organized. I'm also sure there are other areas that I will think of after posting this.:rolleyes: It is a large area of issues that our society needs to address to make our current travel and importing lifestyle sustainable.

Thanks,
Mark

[Joe Blake]

I think "Sustainable Transportation" would be a suitable heading. It doesn't necessarily have to be "alternative" transportation. Although I don't use it myself (living up in the hills behind Perth) Perth has a growing electric railway system (about to add another link to Mandurah, one of our fastest growing satellite suburban areas) which seems to be great. My contribution to the "sustainable" side would be to use the land on the rail corridor as a "solar farm" to reduce the CO2 contribution of the system - ie partially cover the rail reserve with PV cells.

This is not so much an alternative transport system, but an addendum to an existing system.

Chuck, you may wish to re-visit this thread

http://www.greenpowertalk.org/showthread.php?t=479

There are some ideas which really appeal to me, and hopefully may bring a smile to your face. Especially the last one, a car with its own solar panels built-in.

I know (from being on a motorcycle board) that winter time is not the best time to ride a m/cycle, but change is on its way.

Joe

On edit: Perhaps there might be a section heading relating to distance needed to be covered and/or loads to be carried. For distances up to about 3 km and 15-20 kg my fold up bicycle with a Yak trailer does the trick, but if I have to travel up to about 10-15 km, then my electric tricycle with trailer. Over that I use my motorcycle (25 km/litre - luv it to bits), or if I have a particularly awkward or large load to collect my neighbour lends me his car.

Joe

[Rob Beckers]

The new section is alive...

-Rob-

[Joe Blake]

The new section is alive...

-Rob-

Is that a direct quote from Dr Frankestein?

;)

Joe